“Police Sergeant is Suing the City of Chicago”
That headline might not have given us much pause in EMS since we have grown accustomed to workplace litigation. We wouldn’t even have given it a second thought to learn the suit was about “overtime pay” — we’ve seen that before too.
What was interesting about this story is the sergeant is suing the city because of uncompensated time accumulated while using his Blackberry while not officially “on duty.”
This concept has apparently been discussed for years, so-called “Blackberry Overtime” — the concept of employees, saddled with Blackberry’s, working overtime responding to emails, texts and phone calls during off-hours.
The Sergeant’s attorney, Paul Geiger, said “What we are saying is he’s using this mobile device at the behest of the Police Department very routinely and very often “off duty” and not being compensated for all the time spent on the device doing the city’s work. If the good sergeant was expected to respond when called is he “engaged to wait” or is he “waiting to be engaged?”
One may get him paid and the other won’t, but I’ll leave the argument about who will win (other than the attorneys) to the legal pundits and their opinions.
What about non-hourly employees in EMS? These employees, usually above field supervisors, fall into the category of “exempt,” meaning they do not “punch a clock.” They are paid a salary and they usually do not receive overtime. How does constant electronic connectivity impact employees in that category?
As a consultant, I make my own hours, and sometimes that means I golf — during the day — during the work week. Now, before you all start wanting to be consultants, remember no one does my work when I don’t, so eventually the report, the analysis, the marketing brochure has to be done.
As we say in the business, “That bid isn’t going to write itself.” So I often find myself at the computer working from midnight into the wee hours of the morning.
I have noticed an interesting trend in communicating with my clients. I have some clients with hundreds of ambulance and thousands of employees, and others with just one ambulance and a few employees, but there are some commonalties.
I used to send an email to a client, usually a manager, and expect to have them answer me once they get to the office the next day. But with the advent of instant email, texting and smart phones, I now usually receive a response right away — regardless of the time of day.
When are they off duty? I picture them rolling over in their beds and responding to the phone’s tone or buzz, regardless of whether the request was urgent or not. Why? Is it now expected by their employers? Is this what it takes to make it in this business today?
What happens when managers are never off duty? I think the level of expectations of their time sometimes exceeds the bounds of common sense. There has to be some down time.
Articles abound arguing that today’s professionals must “disconnect” and avoid the constant tug of the workplace. But the fear of being left behind in today’s competitive environment keeps people connected and on call around the clock.
Although we seem to have grown accustomed to instant communication, experts wonder if this inability to “disconnect” will have a negative impact on today’s managers.
There are many causes of workplace dissatisfaction and burnout, and every list of causes includes something like, “Too much time at work, without time to relax from workplace pressures.”
Organizations and employees alike need to work to find a happy medium between efficient workplace practices and finding enough “downtime” to recuperate.
After a particularly bad week early in my career I gave some advice about employers to a young up-and-coming manager who worked for me. I said, “You better make sure you take care of yourself first, because no one else is going to – and if you don’t you can’t be effective in taking care of your employees.”
It sounded, even then, a little selfish, and if I would have thought it about I probably wouldn’t have said it, but you can’t un-ring the bell.
Years later this manager — not so young anymore, and far more successful than I have been — said to me, “You know I still remember that advice you gave me once about taking care of myself.”
I cringed a little and wondered if he heeded the advice or just remembered it? I think I’ll text him tonight at 2:00 a.m. and see if he responds.
Even BlackBerry warns about the potential burnout of constant connectivity. Their approach? An app called “Burnout Check” that helps you monitor and manage your connected time.
